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The Global SchoolNet Foundation presents the
Thirteenth Annual Letters to Santa Project
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Please print and distribute this call for collaboration to teachers
you know who may be interested in participating.
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Project Name: The SANTA LETTERS (c) October 1, 2004
By Dennis Cowick, Global SchoolNet Foundation
A favorite annual GSN project since 1984.
Date: November 3, 2004 to December 11, 2004
Purpose: Improve writing skills in primary and upper grade
students, and produce many student-authored papers for
reading.
Subjects: Language arts
Grade level: Students in grades K-1 or 2 write letters to "Santa."
Students in grades 7-12 reply as "Santa."
Summary: This letter exchange, pairing classes of elementary
students with Jr/Sr High students is one of the oldest
and most successful telecomputing projects. Best of
all, it is simple:
1) Primary students write letters to Santa using a word
processor.
2) Secondary students write back, pretending to be Santa.
3) The letters are exchanged as electronic mail
Number of participants: Unlimited
PROJECT COORDINATOR:
Dennis Cowick
Mark Twain Junior-Senior High School
San Diego Unified School District
San Diego, California
619-111-1111
Email Address: santa@gsn.org
REGISTRATION: Complete the registration form below and email it to
santa@gsn.org
We will then pair you with a partner school, and also
send you the complete project outline which includes
* Project time line
* Complete project outline and procedures
* Guidelines for preparing and transmitting files of
student writing
* Writing prompts for primary students
* Writing prompts for secondary students
* Samples of student writing
Sorry... we will send this information only to teachers
who register to participate in the project.
REGISTRATION
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Deadline : November 1, 2004
To register please complete and return the following information to:
SANTA@GSN.ORG
This address is for REGISTRATION and related questions ONLY.
After your registration is acknowledged we will add your name and
address to our group mail list "santa-list." Please send your
questions, comments, and general observations to SANTA-L@GSN.ORG
Every participant will receive a copy of every message posted to this
list so that you'll be able to see all questions and answers.
When you register for this project we will send you additional
information about the sister school program as well as a questionnaire
which we will forward to Roger to help him find you a sister school.
Note: Because registration is handled automatically each data field
MUST begin with "#n:" where n is the appropriate field number (e.g.
"Your full name #1: Jane Doe".)
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SANTA REGISTRATION
Your full name #1:
Your email address #2:
Your school #3:
District #4:
Street address 1 #5:
Street address 2 #6:
School City #7:
School State #8:
School Zip #9:
Country #10:
School & Home voice phone #11:
Question 12 below is for PRIMARY age students only.
What are the AGES of your students, and HOW MANY letters
do you need to RECEIVE (Example: Ages 5-7; need 15 letters)
#12:
Question 13 below is for UPPER grade students only.
What are the AGES of your students, and HOW MANY letters
will you be able to SEND (Example: Ages 15-17; can send 25 letters)
#13:
Questions 14-18: You get only one line per question, and you must
limit the length of the line to 72 characters... so be brief. Please
do not let your lines wrap.
14: Describe your location. Include your latitude & longitude to at
least the nearest minute, and to the nearest second, if possible
#14:
15-16: Describe your setting (major geographical features, rural,
suburban, urban, and the population of your community/city)
#15:
#16:
17-18: Describe your demographics (languages, socio-economic setting,
cultural heritage)
#17:
#18:
This registration information will be sent to the teacher with whom we
match you.
TIME LINE
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November 1: Deadline for Registration
November 4: We send you information about your partner school.
November 4-7: Send your first message of greetings to your
partner teacher.
November 10-21: Practice sending files to yourself and to your
partner.
November 10-21: Primary pre-writing activities
November 24-26: PRIMARY STUDENTS SEND LETTERS TO SANTA VIA EMAIL
November 27-28: U.S.A. Thanksgiving Holiday
December 1-5: Secondary students reply as "Santa."
December 5: SECONDARY STUDENTS SEND REPLIES VIA EMAIL
December 8-12: Primary teachers: give feedback to their partner
Secondary teachers: have your students write to
the Global SchoolNet Foundation and to the primary
teacher a summary of their experiences and an
evaluation of the project's impact on their
learning, etc.
As you can see, there are only two weeks of school between the
Thanksgiving and Winter vacations. That is why it is important,
especially for novice telecommunicators, to make contact and practice
the file transfer procedures the first few weeks of November.
This short time frame makes it imperative that primary students get their
letters to Santa finished and sent before Thanksgiving.
When you register, we will send you a complete set of procedures,
suggestions, and pre-writing activities to use with your students in
completing this project.